Suffolk serial killer reportedly arrested over 1999 murder of teenager

A serial killer who murdered five women in Suffolk in 2006 has reportedly been arrested on suspicion of murdering a teenager who went missing on her way home from a nightclub nearly 22 years ago.

The naked body of Victoria Hall, 17, was found in a ditch on 24 September 1999, five days after she was last seen alive in Felixstowe.

Suffolk police reopened their investigation in 2019 after receiving fresh witness information. They announced that a man had been arrested on Wednesday morning on suspicion of murder. No details were given about his age or where he was arrested.

However, the Daily Telegraph has reported that the man was Steve Wright, who is serving a whole life tariff.

In 2008 he was convicted of the murders of five sex workers in the Ipswich area that occurred between 30 October and 10 December 2006.

The murders of the women – Tania Nicol, 19, Gemma Adams, 25, Anneli Alderton and Paula Clennell, both 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29 – terrified the town and led to one of the country’s biggest police investigations.

In 1999, Wright had been living in the area where Hall went missing, the Telegraph reports.

Suffolk police, who the Guardian has approached for comment, said on Thursday that the suspect had been “released under investigation, pending further inquiries”.

In a statement, the force said: “We are not able to issue any further guidance in respect of the suspect and will not be commenting on any names put to us.” They did say the suspect had not previously been arrested as part of the inquiry.

They said Hall’s family was being kept updated and supported by specialist officers.

Hall, from Trimley St Mary, went missing after a night out with a friend at the Bandbox nightclub in Felixstowe on 18 September 1999. They left the club at about 1am the following morning and parted ways at about 2.20am, yards from Hall’s home, which was the last time she was seen alive.

The next day her parents discovered their daughter had not returned home and a missing persons inquiry was launched. Her body was found five days later in Creeting St Peter, about 25 miles from where she was last seen. None of her clothing or possessions have been found.

Postmortems showed she had been asphyxiated.

In 2001, a businessman stood trial charged with her murder but was unanimously cleared by a jury within 90 minutes.

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